Guilty Verdict In Mall Carjacking Murder Of Toms River Man

SHORT HILLS, NJ — One of the four men accused of killing an attorney from Toms River during a mall carjacking in 2013 has been found guilty by a jury has found one of the four accused killers of attorney Dustin Friedland guilty of felony murder, conspiracy and weapons-related crimes, reports say.

Basim Henry, 33, of South Orange, was guilty on all six counts he faced in connection with the 2013 fatal shooting of Dustin Friedland, NBC New York reported.

Friedland, 30, was fatally shot in the head during a carjacking when he and his wife returned to their Range Rover in a parking deck at the Mall at Short Hills, prosecutors said. Friedland was fatally shot after struggling with the carjackers, and his wife was then ordered out of the vehicle before the thieves drove off, authorities said.

Frieldland was a graduate of Toms River High School North and a 2006 graduate of Bucknell University. Friedland achieved the rank of Eagle Scout for Troop 29 in Toms River in 1999, according to the Asbury Park Press, and in 2002, the 19-year-old Friedland posed as George Washington for an America’s Day celebration at the Pine Beach Elementary School.

Henry and three others — Hanif Thompson, 29, of Irvington, Karif Ford, 32, of Newark, and Kevin Roberts, 35, of Newark — are charged with felony murder, conspiracy and weapons-related crimes, and Henry was found guilty on all charges, the NBC report said. The three other defendants —Roberts, Ford and Thompson — face separate trials, prosecutors said.

• See related article: Four Essex County Men Accused of Deadly Short Hills Mall Carjacking

Friedland – an attorney in Hoboken - was pronounced dead following the shooting at Morristown Medical Center. His wife wasn’t injured but was also transported to the hospital following the incident, the Essex County Prosecutor’s office previously stated.

In August, a New Jersey Superior Court judge ruled that the insurance carrier for The Mall At Short Hills must pay for the legal cost of defending the mall against a lawsuit filed in the wake of Friedland’s death.

According to the ruling, the insurance company may be held responsible if a private contractor that provided mall security is found at fault for the shooting.

• See related article: Short Hills Mall Murder Trial: Widow Gives Harrowing Court Testimony
• See related article: Short Hills Mall’s Insurer May Be On Hook For Fatal Carjacking Lawsuit

Reporting by Eric Kiefer, Patch Staff; File Photo: Dustin Friedland, right, and wife Jamie Schare Friedland